What's a good routine for a person that wants to get into sprinting?

I was originally a distance runner and I eventually had to stop because I was getting too skinny and I didn't like the way I looked. Then I decided to get into bodybuilding and I like the way I look a lot more now, but I'm really not a fan of the bodybuilding lifestyle (eating an excessive amount of food to pack on muscle, eating an excessive amount animal protein, going on extreme diets to lose body fat, etc). I really don't think that lifestyle is healthy either. I tried to think of something that was in between distance running and bodybuilding and I came up with sprinting. I am kind of familiar with distance running and I am familiar with bodybuilding, but I don't even know where to start with sprinting. Can some of you help me out? I'm not looking to race right now or anything like that. I just train because I want to life a healthy lifestyle.

Look, jjdr, in h.s. my track and CC coachs would tell us that “sprinters are born, distance runners are made.” His point wasn’t that sprinters don’t work hard at their craft, it’s just that distance runners have to work much harder (longer) to achieve success. And, season after season his point would be driven home when our otherwise couch potato sprinters would do essentially nothing in the off-season, skip numerous pre-season practices and then show up and break school/state record in the first meet of the season. In your initial post is sounds to me like you really want to be running longer distances but don’t want to get “skinny.” Although I’m wondering what your definition of “skinny” is. If you’ve been a distance runner, and you’ve dabbled in bodybuilding then you know how one affects the other. I’d think that you can counter one with the other so that is doesn’t detract from your body image. You’re not going to be setting any records in either so do the one you enjoy. I’m not saying don’t sprint. But you can run longer distances too, enjoy the health benefits, and still maintain your body mass.

Edited to add...if it really is sprinting you want to do...what timbocf said.

“I run mostly to see things, to explore places I don’t know. And the places I do know…, then I get a sense of the weather, the shifting light, the seasonal changes; it can be pleasurable even when you hurl yourself into the teeth of nature.”

Lots of good videos on sprinting on Youtube. Also training plans online for competing in sprints. Doesn't sound like you want to compete but there it is. You also have HIT and Crossfit and stuff like that. I know being a distance runner isn't my best look, but I wish that would not have mattered to me when I was young.

Why not try something in between, as ForceD mentioned? You could train for 5Ks. If you're not at an elite level, you don't have to run super-high mileage in order to do OK at that distance. A benefit to training for 5Ks is that there are a lot of opportunities to race. On the other hand, there are relatively few sprint races for adult amateurs.

Look, jjdr, in h.s. my track and CC coachs would tell us that “sprinters are born, distance runners are made.” His point wasn’t that sprinters don’t work hard at their craft, it’s just that distance runners have to work much harder (longer) to achieve success. And, season after season his point would be driven home when our otherwise couch potato sprinters would do essentially nothing in the off-season, skip numerous pre-season practices and then show up and break school/state record in the first meet of the season. In your initial post is sounds to me like you really want to be running longer distances but don’t want to get “skinny.” Although I’m wondering what your definition of “skinny” is. If you’ve been a distance runner, and you’ve dabbled in bodybuilding then you know how one affects the other. I’d think that you can counter one with the other so that is doesn’t detract from your body image. You’re not going to be setting any records in either so do the one you enjoy. I’m not saying don’t sprint. But you can run longer distances too, enjoy the health benefits, and still maintain your body mass.

Edited to add...if it really is sprinting you want to do...what timbocf said.

Dan

I actually enjoy them equally pretty much so I really don't want to pick one over the other. The thing about me is that I'm naturally skinny with a fast metabolism and I have a physical job on top of that so it's going to be hard for me to get enough calories to maintain my lbm if I did both. I'm probably going to do something similar to this even though I have no idea how I'm going to train 6 days a week.

Well after thinking about this long and hard I decided that I'm going to get back into distance running. I'm going to include some weight training and cycling as well. I really don't want to give up my vegetarian diet, and I feel like I basically have to eat meat to meet my protein requirements for muscle building. It's either that or rely on supplementation which I'm not really a fan of. I actually have good genetics for activities that involve endurance so I'm going to do something that I have the potential of being good at instead of fighting my genetics. My other reason for wanting to get back into running is that I simply felt better when I was a runner. I get sick a lot more frequently and I feel like I'm in bad cardiovascular shape. Sometimes I get out of breath when I do simple tasks like walk up the stairs.

It sounds like you are interested in the health benefits of working out but do not want your body composition to change drastically. In that case, like A Potomac Runner suggested I would recommend maybe focusing on 5k racing. Training for 5k's can include a little bit of longer distance running (4-6 mile run once or twice a week) as well as some faster work like repeat 200s and 400s. Mileage does not need to be super high, and you can include a bunch of strength training to balance your body out.

From what I remember of the sprinters on my HS track team in practice, a lot of their training involved practicing starts (and handoffs, for the relay runners) and doing a lot of jumps, bleachers and resistance work. Box jumps were a big thing at my school, even the milers and 2-milers (me) had to do a lot of those.

If you're not a pro athlete or a younger athlete with the potential to earn an athletic scholarship or become a pro, don't worry so much about what you are better at. Do what you enjoy, as long as it keeps you healthy and active.

As for your diet, I'm not a vegetarian but I do know that there are elite-level endurance athletes who are vegetarians. So that diet by itself shouldn't stop you from doing what you want to in your chosen sport. Just be sure to get all the key nutrients, including a complete amino acid/protein mix and various micronutrients, including essential minerals.

And since you are not a pro athlete, you don't need to specialize in any particular sport. Feel free to mix things up, although you should still try to have some sort of general plan, to keep you fit and injury-free. Running can be a part of your total fitness routine but it certainly doesn't need to be the only component. (Actually, it's probably better that you include more than just running. Perhaps a majority of runners get themselves injured every year, often because of avoidable muscle weakness and imbalances in the hips, core and legs.)

You can focus more on some sports at certain times of the year. For example, I tend to put a little more emphasis on strength training in the early winter, when I'm not running or cycling as much. Other people might switch to cross-country skiing or ice skating in the winter, which can be more practical for those in cold-weather areas.

Even when I transition into more endurance work in the late winter and spring, I still split up my time among running, cycling and swimming, since I train for triathlons. I like the variety. It helps mentally and physically. Swimming and cycling definitely help me recover better from tough run workouts, even when the swim and bike workouts are pretty tough themselves. As for the mental side, I'm not so sure that I would stick with running if that's all I did, month after month and year-round. Same thing for cycling. If that's all I did, I would probably get tired of that too. But when I mix things up so much, it keeps me mentally fresh.

An off-season break also helps me to avoid injury, overtraining and mental fatigue. I usually take a couple weeks off after my last big race of the year, where I do very little other than casual walking and maybe a super-easy beach cruiser-type bike ride or two.

The variety and the planned rest periods, along with the strength training, keep me injury-free and motivated to train when I do get back to training. I see and hear about too many runners, from beginners to the elite level, who deal with injuries, sometimes to the point where they are forced to stop running completely. I'd much rather have planned breaks, a smart plan and freedom from injury so that I can run when I want the following year and the year after that. Not when an injury schedule allows me to.

If you're not a pro athlete or a younger athlete with the potential to earn an athletic scholarship or become a pro, don't worry so much about what you are better at. Do what you enjoy, as long as it keeps you healthy and active.

As for your diet, I'm not a vegetarian but I do know that there are elite-level endurance athletes who are vegetarians. So that diet by itself shouldn't stop you from doing what you want to in your chosen sport. Just be sure to get all the key nutrients, including a complete amino acid/protein mix and various micronutrients, including essential minerals.

And since you are not a pro athlete, you don't need to specialize in any particular sport. Feel free to mix things up, although you should still try to have some sort of general plan, to keep you fit and injury-free. Running can be a part of your total fitness routine but it certainly doesn't need to be the only component. (Actually, it's probably better that you include more than just running. Perhaps a majority of runners get themselves injured every year, often because of avoidable muscle weakness and imbalances in the hips, core and legs.)

You can focus more on some sports at certain times of the year. For example, I tend to put a little more emphasis on strength training in the early winter, when I'm not running or cycling as much. Other people might switch to cross-country skiing or ice skating in the winter, which can be more practical for those in cold-weather areas.

Even when I transition into more endurance work in the late winter and spring, I still split up my time among running, cycling and swimming, since I train for triathlons. I like the variety. It helps mentally and physically. Swimming and cycling definitely help me recover better from tough run workouts, even when the swim and bike workouts are pretty tough themselves. As for the mental side, I'm not so sure that I would stick with running if that's all I did, month after month and year-round. Same thing for cycling. If that's all I did, I would probably get tired of that too. But when I mix things up so much, it keeps me mentally fresh.

An off-season break also helps me to avoid injury, overtraining and mental fatigue. I usually take a couple weeks off after my last big race of the year, where I do very little other than casual walking and maybe a super-easy beach cruiser-type bike ride or two.

The variety and the planned rest periods, along with the strength training, keep me injury-free and motivated to train when I do get back to training. I see and hear about too many runners, from beginners to the elite level, who deal with injuries, sometimes to the point where they are forced to stop running completely. I'd much rather have planned breaks, a smart plan and freedom from injury so that I can run when I want the following year and the year after that. Not when an injury schedule allows me to.

Yeah that's pretty much what I'm going to do. Thanks for the advice. As for my diet, I was a vegetarian when I used to run and I made a lot of progress as far as weight loss and endurance. I also felt healthy and energetic. Vegetarianism and bodybuilding really don't agree unless you supplement with protein or eat a lot of dairy and eggs. I really don't relying on supplements to reach my goals so running is a better and healthier choice for me. I have made a lot of strength gains since I started resistance training, but I feel like I'm never going to reach my genetic potential with the kind of diet I'm on. I really only get about 60 grams of protein a day which isn't even close to being enough to reach my muscle building goals. I enjoy resistance training almost as much as I enjoyed running, but I feel like I'm spinning my wheels if my diet isn't in check.

JJDR: The recommended daily protein intake for active adults is 56g of protein, but for athletes the most common recommendation is between 0.5 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, depending on the nature of the athletic training. Even the Vegetarian Resource Group suggests about .45 grams of protein per pound.

And, season after season his point would be driven home when our otherwise couch potato sprinters would do essentially nothing in the off-season, skip numerous pre-season practices and then show up and break school/state record in the first meet of the season.

Google for C2100M, or couch to 100 meters. It's a great program. Starts out with walking 100 meters and gradually adds sprinting segments until you build up to the full distance. I think it's an eight week program, don't try to hurry through it.

You're going to want to sprint frequently, but not completely wear yourself out each session. It's a motor skill. Generally you should pick a long to short or short to long way of training. You may be able to train both ways in different seasons, but I wouldn't suggest mixing them too much in the same training cycle.

Long to short would be starting out with a high volume and low intensity. Then as you increase in speed over the weeks and months, you cut rests. Going from relatively aerobic workouts to highly anaerobic ones (creating that burning feeling in your muscles). Something like this might work well if you want to run well over 400 or 800.

Short to long programs have you start out with low volume, but high rest workouts. You're working on explosion and acceleration in the early workouts. . Then later in the season.maintaining that speed to the finish line. This is basically the way to go if you are training for the 100 meters, and may work all the way up to 800 for some types too.

Whatever your training plan, I suggest doing a lot of workouts on flat grass. A soccer field, the football field in the middle of the track. The reason is to reduce impact, so you can train more often and recover faster. Bleachers or stairs are excellent for warming up. The reason to go to the roads would mainly be for easy conditioning runs if you're a long sprinter, or to perform hill sprints.

These drills will help. Dathan R is a long distance runner, but as he says he borrowed them from old school sprinting warmups.He also has a video on dynamic stretching, on the same channel.

You can see Asafa Powell warming up for a track workout here. This is very important in sprinting; cold muscles will slow you down and increase injury risk. Powell has run under 10.00 more times than anyone and had the record previously.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13ZpOZdJaaQ

Finally, here's the subreddit I made. You can find people much more experienced in sprinting and sprint coaching than I am there.

Edit: Since you're a vegetarian, how about Greek yogurt? A sprinter is going to want a decent amount of protein, certainly one who follows my advice and practices often. I'd watch out for the sugar content on some brands, but you can probably find something with 15+ grams of protein in a small serving.

Very interesting video on the sprint warmup, kind of reminds me of horse training(not that I have ever trained horse)...but one must be careful with that kind of power. Even as a much less powerful runner, it's a good reminder to take warm-ups for harder workouts seriously.